World’s Strongest Man 2010 Giants Live Tour – England

You are probably expecting the 2nd leg of the Giants Live Tour from Kiev but I screwed up there – I forgot to series link World’s Strongest Man on Sky+ so last night’s show didn’t record. At the time of writing it hasn’t yet appeared on the online Sky Player but the first show from South Africa is on there, so I am hopeful. Otherwise it is repeated on Sunday at 6pm, so one way or another I will post a catch-up blog of that competition.

Giants Live

Onto tonight’s show which is the 3rd and final leg of the Giants Live Tour and comes from Wembley Arena, England, not America as I suspected. I’m actually going to write this blog post as I watch the show, with some well timed pausing of the footage, of course! So, on with the show, let’s first see who’s competing.

First thing we are told is that as well as giving us another 3 qualifiers for the WSM finals, we will also be crowing Europe’s Strongest Man, which would indicate no Americans competing tonight.

First event is the Last Man Standing Axel Press – World Record for this is 189 Kg by Derek Poundstone. Mariusz Pudzianowski is guest commentating with Colin Bryce. First impression of Radzikowski is that he is a beast, with huge muscles – he cleared 173 KG with ease, obviously learning well at Pudzianowski’s camp! Then came Savickas who made it look even easier!

Krystof Radzikowski

After both Radzikowski and Savickas cleared 189 KG the weights were increased to 193 KG, a new world record attempt. Radzikowski went first and failed, by lack of technique rather than lack of power.

Zydrunas Savickas with a New World Record

However, with a new World Record (his 46th World Record!) of 193 KB, Zydrunas Savickas wins the first event to get maximum points!

Last Man Standing Axle Press Results

A disappointing result for Mark Felix but he’s always preferred dead lifts to overhead presses. Terry Hollands is trailing not far behind the leaders but on the form of the Axle Press alone it looks like Savickas could prove to be unbeatable.

Next up is the Farmer’s Walk, with 159 KGs in each arm and a 40 metre course, 20 metres each way. Stoyant Todorchev just completed the course in 20 seconds by literally running with those huge weights in each hand. Mark Felix looked like he may have a chance of beating that time but tired towards the end to go into second, so far.

Savcikas v Radzikowski

Savcikas v Radzikowski was the big showdown, but neither could beat Todorchev’s time, though Savickas did get a respectable second place.

Farmers Walk Results

Radzikowski was the big mover, dropping from 2nd to joint 4th, and we hear he may have a broken finger. It’s looking good for the Brits with Hollands and Marku in 2nd and 3rd respectively,though both are trailing Savickas quite considerably after only 2 events.

Standings after The Farmers Walk

Third event is the Medley which consists of flipping a 400 KG tyre three times and then carrying 3 100 KG sacks down the course where they are deposited onto a platform. Both strength and fitness needed here. Radzikowski had no problem flipping the tyre but couldn’t get even one of the sacks onto the platform – it seems his broken finger is really hampering his performance, as is to be expected. Speaking of which, the last sack seems to have led to an injured bicep for Jimmy Marku and we later learn it’s a torn bicep and he’s out of the competition.

Hollands v Felix

The Battle of Britain saw Hollands beat Felix to go top of the leaderboard for this event. Terry Hollands is immensely agile for such a big man, his past in rugby no doubt helping him there. Savickas took another win as he beat Hollands time by less than 0.2 seconds. Big Z is deceptively fast for a guy of his stature.

Medley Results

At this point I think we may as well crown Zydrunas Savickas the 2010 Europe’s Strongest Man, and on this form he looks likely repeat his victory at the World’s Strongest Man Final in South Africa!

Standings after The Medley

Next up is the Car Deadlift and a chance for Mark Felix to move up a spot or two, being the world renowned Deadlifter that he is. Quite odd to see Rob Frampton in the company of regular WSM competitors after seeing him mainly on the UK circuit. Though not looking like winning any events, he’s not looking out of place.

Mark Felix en route to Victory

With 16 reps Mark Felix has gone storming into the lead, with only Savickas or Hollands to come. Hollands is looking far more comfortable than Savickas and only does what he needs to, beating Savickas by just 1 rep, and that’s all he needed. Felix’s 16 was just too much.

Car Deadlift Results

As good as Terry Hollands is at the Atlas Stones, the 5th and final event, I don’t think he’s going to be able to catch Savickas up. Felix is looking good for 3rd place and should be joining the two men ahead of him in the WSM finals.

Standings after the Car Deadlift

Typically Felix does the Atlas Stones bare chested and gets off to a flying start. Wow, he completed it in 12.47 seconds – that was mega fast – I’ll be shocked if Hollands or Savickas can beat that, but in the absence of Travis Ortmayer, if anyone can it will be these two.

Terry Hollands injured during the Atlas Stones

Hollands has blown his bicep picking up the second stone – I hope that’s not a bad injury. Savickas cruises to the end, coming in behind Felix and Todorchev in 3rd place.

Atlas Stones Results

Europe’s Strongest Man 2010 is Zydrunas Savickas, and by a margin of 7.5 points, thanks in some part to the injury sustained by Terry Hollands in the final event. Injury aside, there’s no doubt that Savickas remains the man to beat.

Overall Standings

The commentators speculated that Hollands and Marku may not make it to the WSM finals which would be disastrous for British hopes, especially in the case of Hollands who regularly makes the final 10 and aims for a decent place each year. Earlier this week I wrote a blog post talking about the qualifying groups that had been published on the official WSM website and the fact that Terry Hollands had been placed in Group 2. I only hope that this is an indication of Terry’s fitness and ability to compete and that he doesn’t get substituted out because of the injury.

The first heat of the this year’s World’s Strongest Man qualifiers is on Sunday, Boxing Day, at 8pm on Bravo and features Brian Shaw and Mark Felix, to name just 2 of the 6 competitors in that group. To say I’m excited is an understatement – bring on WSM 2010!